OUR VIEW: No time for a marathon

Published: Friday, November 2, 2012 at 6:50 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, November 2, 2012 at 6:51 p.m.

Athletic competitions bring people from all walks together and have been credited with helping communities regain their self-esteem and a sense of pride after tragedies strike.

For example, the New Orleans Saints’ drive to the Super Bowl created a renewed sense of community in the city that had been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. After tornadoes raked across Alabama in April 2011, hitting particularly hard in Tuscaloosa, fans of all teams came together to help rebuild hard-hit areas.

Auburn Tiger great Bo Jackson even led a multi-day bike ride across the state to help raise funds for tornado relief that ended in the home city of his school’s biggest rival, the University of Alabama. The Crimson Tide’s success in the ensuing season helped ease the memories of the April devastation.

That said, officials made the right call Friday to cancel the New York City Marathon. One of the more prominent marathons in the world, the race draws 47,000 participants, 12,000 volunteers and some 2.5 million spectators each year, and city officials were reluctant to cancel Sunday’s planned race.

The race is held on just a single day. It doesn’t build to a crescendo as seasons do. It doesn’t generate a sense of loyalty that a team’s season-long run does. City officials said conducting the race wouldn’t have diverted resources from the recovery and cleanup efforts, but it would have been disrespectful of the storm’s many victims. The wounds were too fresh and the needs still too great.

Living United

One of these days we might get tired of saluting the success of the annual fund drive for the United Way of Etowah County. We wouldn’t advise holding your breath waiting for that to happen because we’re always amazed by the generosity of this community.

This year’s goal was an ambitious $1.385 million and while it was nip and tuck for a while, the result announced Thursday was a fuzz above $1.4 million.

The United Way staff and all the people who volunteer their time and efforts to the fund drive deserve praise for their work but to a person they will tell you the credit goes to the companies that conduct drives, their employees and individual donors. We truly Live United.

<p>Athletic competitions bring people from all walks together and have been credited with helping communities regain their self-esteem and a sense of pride after tragedies strike.</p><p>For example, the New Orleans Saints' drive to the Super Bowl created a renewed sense of community in the city that had been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. After tornadoes raked across Alabama in April 2011, hitting particularly hard in Tuscaloosa, fans of all teams came together to help rebuild hard-hit areas. </p><p>Auburn Tiger great Bo Jackson even led a multi-day bike ride across the state to help raise funds for tornado relief that ended in the home city of his school's biggest rival, the University of Alabama. The Crimson Tide's success in the ensuing season helped ease the memories of the April devastation.</p><p>That said, officials made the right call Friday to cancel the New York City Marathon. One of the more prominent marathons in the world, the race draws 47,000 participants, 12,000 volunteers and some 2.5 million spectators each year, and city officials were reluctant to cancel Sunday's planned race.</p><p>The race is held on just a single day. It doesn't build to a crescendo as seasons do. It doesn't generate a sense of loyalty that a team's season-long run does. City officials said conducting the race wouldn't have diverted resources from the recovery and cleanup efforts, but it would have been disrespectful of the storm's many victims. The wounds were too fresh and the needs still too great.</p><h3>Living United</h3>
<p>One of these days we might get tired of saluting the success of the annual fund drive for the United Way of Etowah County. We wouldn't advise holding your breath waiting for that to happen because we're always amazed by the generosity of this community. </p><p>This year's goal was an ambitious $1.385 million and while it was nip and tuck for a while, the result announced Thursday was a fuzz above $1.4 million. </p><p>The United Way staff and all the people who volunteer their time and efforts to the fund drive deserve praise for their work but to a person they will tell you the credit goes to the companies that conduct drives, their employees and individual donors. We truly Live United.</p>